NDA (I) 2025 General Ability Test · Question 2 of 150

Correct — A, by establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language. The passage says 'Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language' — sustained contact is what finally reveals a new language.

• (b)By finding the similarities of the language with other languages — Similarities are what mislead investigators into assuming the speech is 'just a dialect', so they prevent — not establish — recognition of a new language.
• (c)By comparing with the lingua franca of the region — The passage mentions the lingua franca only to explain why an ethnic language is missed; comparing with it is never offered as a way to establish a new language.
• (d)By conducting a survey of all languages of the region — The text refers to 'a language survey', not a 'survey of all languages of the region'; (d) overstates the passage and is not what finally settles the matter.

A detail/inference comprehension item — match the option to the exact line in the passage that describes how a new language is finally confirmed.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A passage says a fungus is confirmed as a new species only after months of laboratory culture. What confirms it as new?

  • (a)Its colour
  • (b)Months of laboratory culture
  • (c)Its smell
  • (d)Its location

  Answer(b) Months of laboratory culture — the passage names sustained culture as the confirming step.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In a detail-based comprehension question, the safest answer is the one that —

  • (a)sounds most sophisticated
  • (b)is directly stated by a line in the passage
  • (c)uses a word from the question
  • (d)is the shortest option

  Answer(b) is directly stated by a line in the passage — detail items reward text support, not plausibility.